Fanvault and Passes are creator monetization platforms that let creators sell subscriptions, paid DMs, and digital products direct to fans, but they charge very different fees. Fanvault takes a flat 8% per transaction, so creators keep 92%. Passes lists pricing "as low as 10% + $0.30 per transaction" per Vidpros, and that 30-cent line item is the whole story for high-frequency, low-ticket creators in 2026.
⚡ Key Takeaways
- Fanvault charges a flat 8% per transaction; Passes charges 10% + $0.30, so on a $1 tip Fanvault leaves the creator 92 cents while Passes leaves 60 cents.
- On a $5 PPV, Fanvault's effective creator share is 92% versus 84% on Passes; on a $10K month across 2,000 transactions, Passes costs $1,600 in fees vs $800 on Fanvault.
- Passes is a PG-13 platform that hosts minors, prohibits nudity, and bans funneling fans to OnlyFans or Fansly; Fanvault is an 18+ platform with age-verified onboarding.
- Fanvault ships native auctions, buy-it-now drops, and authenticated memorabilia with Shippo fulfillment; Passes ships branded merch only.
- Passes was founded in 2022 by Lucy Guo and has raised $66.6M (including a $40M Bond Capital Series A); Fanvault launched in 2025 with a 24-country footprint.
- Honest verdict: Fanvault wins for high-frequency low-ticket creators and storefront sellers; Passes wins for PG-13 talent that needs brand-safe positioning.
How does the fee math actually compare?
The headline numbers look close: 8% versus 10%. But Passes adds a flat $0.30 to every single transaction, which compounds against creators at exactly the price points fans are most willing to click.
On a $1 tip, Fanvault takes 8 cents and the creator keeps 92 cents. Passes takes $0.10 + $0.30 = 40 cents, leaving the creator with 60 cents. That is a 60% effective creator share, not the advertised 90%.
On a $5 PPV photo, Fanvault takes 40 cents and the creator keeps $4.60 (92% effective share). Passes takes $0.50 + $0.30 = 80 cents, leaving $4.20 (84%). The gap narrows but never closes, even at higher tickets.
Scale that to a real month. At $1,000 in revenue across 200 average $5 transactions, Fanvault costs the creator $80 and Passes costs $160. At $10,000 across 2,000 transactions, Fanvault costs $800 while Passes costs $1,600. The $0.30 per-transaction line item is where Passes' "as low as 10%" stops being as low as 10%.
Where does Passes actually win?
An honest comparison has to acknowledge what Passes does better. Passes was founded in 2022 by Lucy Guo (Scale AI cofounder) and has raised $66.6M across three rounds, including a $40M Series A led by Bond Capital in February 2024, per Fortune. Named talent on the platform includes Bella Thorne, Livvy Dunne, Kygo, and Eric Bellinger, per the company's April 22, 2026 rebrand release. Fanvault launched in 2025 and is the newer entrant.
Passes also sits in a different content lane. Per the Passes community guidelines, it is a PG-13 platform that hosts minors, prohibits explicit nudity and pornography, and bans "funneling" fans to OnlyFans, Fansly, 18+ Snapchats, or adult-themed Patreons. For talent whose brand cannot afford to be adjacent to adult content (NCAA athletes, family-friendly streamers, music acts with major-label deals), that brand-safe positioning is a feature, not a bug.
And Passes publishes a known payout schedule. Per the Passes Terms, default payouts run bi-weekly within 30 days of period end, with automatic 1/2/4-week cadences free of charge and instant or 1-day options available for an extra fee.
"Passes has always charged half of what most creator platforms charge, and that commitment is not changing with the rebrand."
Passes Inc., April 22, 2026 rebrand release, PR Newswire
What revenue streams does each platform support?
Both platforms cover the modern monetization stack. The honest difference is the storefront. Fanvault ships a full marketplace inside every creator profile, with auctions (proxy bidding, reserve prices, anti-snipe extended-bidding windows), buy-it-now drops, and authenticated memorabilia like signed items, stream-worn apparel, and tournament gear, all routed through Shippo-powered fulfillment. Passes ships a branded merch storefront only, with no auction infrastructure and no provenance metadata.
| Dimension | Fanvault | Passes |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | Flat 8%, no per-transaction surcharge | 10% + $0.30 per transaction |
| Creator share on a $1 tip | 92% | 60% |
| Creator share on a $5 PPV | 92% | 84% |
| Revenue streams | Subs, PPV, paid DMs, tips, custom requests, wishlists, auctions, buy-it-now drops | Subs, paid DMs, livestreams, merch, 1:1 calls, group chats, digital downloads, mass DMs/SMS |
| Authenticated memorabilia | Native auctions + buy-it-now with provenance metadata | Not offered |
| Wishlists | Native | Not offered |
| Setup automation | Telegram-native chat interface for storefront, DMs, scheduling | Standard web dashboard |
| Content policy | 18+, age-verified, AI moderation via Sightengine | PG-13, hosts minors, no nudity, no adult funneling |
| Payout schedule | Stripe Connect payouts | Bi-weekly default; instant/1-day for extra fee |
| Founded / funding | 2025, AI-native, 24-country launch | 2022, $66.6M raised, 114 employees |
Which content rules apply on each platform?
This is the cleanest dividing line between the two platforms. Per Passes' own guidelines, the platform is PG-13, explicitly hosts minors, prohibits explicit nudity, and bans creators from funneling fans to OnlyFans, Fansly, 18+ Snapchats, or adult-themed Patreons. The only allowed off-ramp from Passes is a link aggregator in bio.
Fanvault is the opposite end: an 18+ platform with age-verified creators and fans at onboarding, AI content moderation via Sightengine, and a two-strike brand-safety policy. The two platforms are not really competing for the same creator on the content axis. If a creator's roadmap includes any adult or even adult-adjacent content, Passes is off the table by policy. If a creator's audience is partially under 18 (NCAA fans, gaming kids, family-friendly music followers), Passes is the safer brand fit.
Which platform fits which creator?
The right answer depends less on the headline fee and more on transaction size, content policy, and whether a creator wants a storefront.
| Creator type | Fanvault | Passes |
|---|---|---|
| High-frequency, low-ticket talent (tips, $1-$5 PPV, paid DMs) | Best fit; the flat 8% removes the $0.30 surcharge that eats small ticket sizes | Weak fit; the per-transaction fee eats double-digit percentage points |
| Streamers and gaming talent with stream-worn gear, signed items, tournament memorabilia | Best fit; native auction + buy-it-now storefront with provenance metadata | Weak fit; no auction infrastructure |
| Combat sports, fitness, and dance creators | Best fit; 18+ verified onboarding plus a storefront for signed gear | Possible fit if PG-13 |
| NCAA athletes, family-friendly streamers, child-audience talent | Not a fit; 18+ platform by policy | Best fit; PG-13 positioning is the whole point |
| AI and virtual creators | Best fit; sister platform Content Capital generates content and publishes across IG, TikTok, and X | Weak fit; limited AI-creator infrastructure |
| A-list music talent (Bella Thorne, Livvy Dunne, Kygo lane) | Possible fit if 18+ positioning is acceptable | Strongest brand association today via named partnerships |
If a creator's revenue mix skews toward sub-$10 transactions and they want a storefront for authenticated items, Fanvault wins on math and surface area. If a creator's brand has to stay PG-13 and they want association with named A-list talent on a more established platform, Passes is the honest answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Passes really a 10% platform?
Not quite. Per a 2026 review on Vidpros, Passes lists pricing 'as low as
Does Fanvault allow adult content?
Fanvault is an 18+ platform with age-verified onboarding for both creators and fans, AI content moderation via Sightengine, and a two-strike brand-safety policy. Passes is the opposite end of the spectrum. Per the Passes community guidelines, it is a 'PG-13 platform that hosts minors' that prohibits explicit nudity and pornography, and bans 'funneling' fans to OnlyFans, Fansly, 18+ Snapchats, or adult-themed Patreons. The two platforms occupy different content lanes by design.
Can I sell signed merch and memorabilia on Passes?
Passes offers a branded merchandise storefront for items like apparel and jewelry. Bella Thorne, for example, sells her THORNE jewelry line through it per the company's April 22, 2026 rebrand release. What Passes does not offer is auction infrastructure (proxy bidding, reserve prices, anti-snipe windows) or provenance metadata for authenticated items like signed gear, stream-worn apparel, or tournament memorabilia. Fanvault ships all of that natively with Shippo-powered fulfillment built in.
How fast do Passes payouts arrive?
Per the Passes Terms, the default is bi-weekly payouts within 30 days of the end of each bi-weekly period. Automatic 1/2/4-week cadences are available free of charge and arrive in 3-5 business days. Instant and 1-day payouts are available for an extra fee. Fanvault uses Stripe Connect for payouts, with regulated identity verification handled at creator onboarding.